Raising a Mini Elphaba
by NiatheWickedLover
Summary: Elphaba and Fiyero get married and have a daughter. But it's not going to be an easy road.
1. The Wedding

"Fae, will you marry me?" asked the prince on one knee.

The girl he was talking to, Elphaba, stood there speechless.

"Oh, Yero!" she exclaimed as she jumped on top of him and kissed him. "Of course I will marry you!"

That was six months ago. Today was the big day. Glinda and Nessa, Elphaba's bridesmaids, were standing next to Elphaba, getting her ready. Elphaba was wearing a stunning white wedding dress with a silk veil. They were laughing and talking about their days at Shiz. They heard the music starting. It was time for the wedding to begin.

"Do you, Fiyero, take Elphaba to be your wife?" asked the priest.

"I do!" Fiyero said as he smiled at Elphaba.

"And do you, Elphaba, take Fiyero to be your husband?" asked the priest to Elphaba.

"I do!" said Elphaba.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, prince and princess."

The crowd cheered as Elphaba and Fiyero sealed their love with a kiss. As they exited the church, the announcer announced, "Presenting the Prince and Princess of the Vinkus!" As the doors opened, Fiyero and Elphaba were greeted with cheers, camera flashes, and rice. They laughed as they ran down the steps and into their carriage to leave for their honeymoon.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Princess?" Fiyero asked Elphaba playfully.

"I'm sure. I'm just glad that I don't have to be in hiding or on the run. It feels so nice to be accepted." Elphaba answered. And it was true. All her life, she had been teased and ridiculed for her green skin. Over time, she had grown to accept it, and so has everyone else. Occasionally, there was a little bit of staring, but nothing that Elphie couldn't handle. She was just so happy that she could be with the man that she loves.

When Elphaba and Fiyero got back to the castle in the Vinkus, Glinda, Nessa, and Boq were there. They had been planning their 'Welcome Home' party since they left one month ago. As soon as Elphaba and Fiyero walked through the door, a bouncy, bubbly, blonde girl attacked them.

"You're hoooooooooome!" she cried, squeezing both of them very tightly. Nessa ran toward them. "Glinda, let them breath. They just got back. I bet they're tired and want to rest." Practical Nessarose, as usual.

"It's good to see you too, Glin!" said Fiyero, as he was catching his breath from the hug.

"We missed you, too!" said Elphaba.

"How was the honeymoon?" asked Boq, who didn't want to feel left out.

"We had a nice time," said Fiyero, who was, indeed as Nessa said, very tired.

"Yeah, he had a nice time sleeping!" teased Elphaba.

"You're going to wish that you could get some sleep once you have children." said Nessarose, laughing.

"When are you two going to have children?" asked Glinda.

"Not for a long time! We just got married," answered Elphaba.

"There's time," said Fiyero. Fiyero wanted children, but he didn't want to put pressure on Elphaba. They would have children when Elphaba wanted to have children. They just didn't expect it to be as soon as it would be.


	2. A Baby is Born

Two months after they were married, Elphaba was sitting on the bed in the grand bedroom. She had something to tell Fiyero and didn't know how to tell him. She decided that she was just going to tell him. Fiyero came into the room.

"Hello, Elphaba!"

"Hello, Yero! I have to tell you something." Elphaba looked concerned, and after looking at her, so did Fiyero.

"What is it, Fae? What's happened?"

Elphaba smiled. "We're going to have a baby."

Fiyero fainted. When he woke up, he was laying on the bed, with his wife stroking his hair. "What happened?" he asked.

"Yero, dear, we are going to have a baby!" said Elphaba excitedly.

This time, Fiyero didn't faint. Instead, he picked up his wife and spun her around the room. "Oh, Elphie! Really?" Elphaba nodded. "That's wonderful! How far along are you?

"About a month," she answered.

"We need to start getting ready. We'll tell my parents the good news at dinner tonight!" Fiyero was even more excited than Elphaba was.

_**8 months later**_

Elphaba was due in a week. Fiyero was waiting on her hand and foot. Nessa was rubbing her feet, something at Elphaba used to do to her when she was younger. Glinda was running around the castle getting Elphaba more pillows, more tea, more of everything. Elphaba was lying down on the couch, enjoying the pampering. Then all of a sudden, she yelped in pain and clutched her stomach. Everyone stopped what they were doing and ran toward her.

"Breath in and out, Fabala. In and out." coached Nessa.

"I'll get the tea!" called Glinda as she ran back to the kitchen.

"I'll get the …" Boq wasn't sure what to get.

"Mom! Dad! I think Elphaba is going into labor! Come here!" shouted Elphaba's nervous wretch of a husband. The King and Queen of the Vinkus ran down the steps to Elphaba, who was still breathing hard. The Queen placed her hand on Elphaba's stomach. "Yes, Elphaba is defiantly in labor. There is no time to get the midwife. Nessarose and Glinda, please help me carry Elphaba into the master bedroom. Fiyero and Boq, please go fetch some water."

"Mom, I can't leave Elphaba when she is about to have a baby!"

"Then hurry up and get the water with Boq so you won't miss anything!"

Glinda and Nessarose struggled to get Elphaba up the stairs and Fiyero and Boq ran to get the water.

Up in the master bedroom, Elphaba was breathing very hard. "The pain… it hurts… make it stop!" she cried.

"It will be alright, Elphaba dear," said the Queen, trying to calm Elphaba down.

"Where is Fiyero?" panicked Elphaba, looking around frantically.

"He went with Boq to get some water," said Glinda, appearing at Elphaba's side holding her hand.

"Nessa…" said Elphaba, reaching out her other hand to her little sister. Nessa ran to Elphaba's side and held her hand. Elphaba inhaled deeply and sank into the pillows. Fiyero and Boq appeared with the water. Fiyero ran to his wife's side and stroked her long raven-like hair. Elphaba opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of her husband. Glinda stepped aside to make room for Fiyero. A few minutes later, Elphaba let out another cry of pain.

"Her contractions are coming closer together. I believe the birth will be within the next two hours." The Queen said as she got out towels and blankets. The birth was much sooner. Elphaba's little one was eager to enter the world.

"Push, Elphie, push!" Coached Glinda. Elphaba's forehead was covered with sweat and she looked scared.

"Everything is fine, Elphaba. I see the head. Keep pushing!" said the Queen. Everyone was in the room with Elphaba; Nessa, Glinda, Fiyero, and the Queen. The King and Boq were standing in the corner, waiting. Neither one of them was a fan of birthing. After about another half hour, with one final push, Elphaba sank deep into the pillows and closed her eyes. There was a little cry. The Queen cleaned the baby off and wrapped her in the blankets. When Elphaba opened her eyes, the Queen was right beside her with the baby wrapped up in her arms.

"Elphaba, Fiyero, let me introduce you to your new daughter." said the Queen as she handed the bundle of blankets to Elphaba. Fiyero was sitting on the bed next to her. Both of them fell in love with the little face in front of them. Glinda and Nessa '_awwwwwwed'_ at the new princess. Even Boq and the King came over and admired the new princess.

"What do you want to name her?" asked Nessa.

"I like Melanie." said Elphaba

"I like Sarah." said Fiyero.

"I like Glinda." said (guess who) Glinda. Elphaba and Fiyero looked at her and laughed.

"How about Melanie Glinda Sarah Tigelaar?" said Elphaba.

"I love it!" said Fiyero. "And I love you!" he said as he kissed Elphaba.

"Would you like to hold her?" Elphaba asked Fiyero. Fiyero smiled and took his daughter from Elphaba. He got to have a better look at her features. She had black hair, white skin, and a small nose and mouth. Her eyes were big and brown. She was the perfect combination of Elphaba and Fiyero. He passed Melanie to Nessa. "Here you go Aunt Nessa."

Nessa smiled as she examined her new niece. "She's perfect."

Nessa passed the little princess to Glinda, who beamed with delight. "How cute!" she squealed.

"Glinda," asked Elphaba, "would you like to be Melanie's godmother?"

Glinda stared at Elphaba, processing what she just said. She gave Melanie back to Elphaba and said, "It would be an honor!"

They all were admiring the new baby when the Queen said, "Alright, everyone, time to let Elphaba and Melanie rest. You will see plenty of both of them later." They all said goodbye to Elphaba and the baby and left the room. Elphaba was left alone to talk to Melanie.

"Hi, sweetie!" she said to the sleeping baby. "I'm your mommy, and I'm so happy you're here! So is your daddy. You are going to love it here. I'm sure your Auntie Nessa and Godmommy Glinda will pamper you, buying you all of the things you could ever imagine. I'll let you sleep now. I should probably get some sleep while I can. I love you," she said as she kissed her newborn daughter. They both settled down for their long nap. And thus begins Elphaba and Fiyero's life as parents.


	3. The First Month

It had been a month since Melanie was born. There had been a lot of crying and waking up in the middle of the night for diaper changes and feedings. Elphaba was getting very tired and cranky, but she tried her best to not show it. Glinda, Nessa and Boq had moved in to the castle to help out Elphaba. Elphaba was sitting in the parlor trying to get Melanie to take a nap, but Melanie would not sleep.

"Come on, Melanie, dear. Please go to sleep." Elphaba sighed as she rocked her daughter.

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!" cried Melanie, who, obviously, did not want to sleep.

Glinda appeared in the parlor. "Do you want me to try, Elphie?" she asked.

"Please!" said Elphaba as she handed Melanie over to Glinda.

Glinda hummed a lullaby that not only worked on Melanie, but on Elphaba as well, who did not get any sleep in a month. Glinda smiled and took Melanie to her room. She then went back to the parlor and put some blankets over Elphaba. Elphaba looked peacefully asleep. Then a cry from Melanie's room woke her up. Elphaba started to get up, but Glinda pushed her back down. "You need your rest. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Glin." said Elphaba as she sank back down into the couch.

Glinda ran to Melanie's room. Everything in Melanie's room was pink (thanks to Glinda). Melanie was fussing in her crib. Glinda picked her up. Melanie opened her eyes, and as soon as she saw Glinda, she stopped crying and smiled.

"Awwww, Melanie, you're mommy needs to get some sleep." Melanie yawned. "And so do you," she said as she rocked Melanie in the rocking chair. "It's been really hard for her and she wants to do everything herself, as usual." Melanie wined. "It's okay. It's not your fault. You're a really good baby." Glinda stroked Melanie's nose. Melanie reached out her hand and grabbed Glinda's finger. "And strong to!" she teased. Melanie inhaled a few times, smiled at Glinda, and fell into a deep sleep. Glinda kissed her forehead and placed her back in her crib. She left the room to check up on Elphaba in the parlor. When she got there, Elphaba was crying.

"Elphie, what's the matter?" asked Glinda as she ran to her side.

"I'm worried that I'm not going to be a good mother. Melanie is always crying when I hold her and she never cries when you or Nessa or Fiyero or Boq hold her." Elphie sobbed.

"Oh, Elphie, it's not your fault. You have been a great mom. It's a big adjustment, and you're doing a great job." Glinda softly spoke as she stroked Elphaba's hair.

Elphaba smiled at Glinda. "Thank you."

Glinda smiled as she left the room so Elphaba could get more sleep. Glinda closed the door of the parlor behind her and went into the living room to have tea with the others.

"Elphie is sleeping in the parlor," said Glinda as she approached everyone.

"Good. She needs her rest." said the Queen.

"I'm worried about her. She looks like she hasn't had a good night's rest in a month." said Nessa as she quietly sipped her tea.

"I wish that Elphaba knew that she doesn't have to be strong all the time. She can relax a little and let us help her." Said Fiyero in a concerned tone.

"That's the way Elphaba has always been. Since our mom died, Elphaba has been the strong one. She's been like my mom, and not my sister. It's going to take her a while to learn that she can accept our help, or anyone's help."

Elphaba then appeared at the door. "Is there enough tea for me?" she asked in a playful voice.

Everyone laughed. "I'll get some," volunteered Boq. He left the room.

Elphaba sat down and sighed. Everyone decided that Elphaba did not to talk about Melanie. It was quiet for a while, and then Nessa spoke.

"You look wonderful, Fabala." she said, trying to make Elphaba smile.

Elphaba smiled, but didn't say anything.

Melanie started to cry from her room. Elphaba put her hands to her head. Nessa jumped up to get Melanie. A few minutes later, Nessa returned with a crying Melanie. "She wants her mommy," said Nessa as she handed Melanie to Elphaba. Elphaba took Melanie back to her room.

Once they were in Melanie's room, Elphaba sat down and Melanie stopped crying. She looked up at her mommy and smiled. Elphaba smiled. She gently stroked Melanie's cheek. Melanie grabbed Elphaba's finger, just like she did with Glinda. Elphaba thought her heart would burst with joy. Melanie fell into a peaceful sleep on Elphaba's lap.


	4. New Dresses

**6 months later**

Melanie, now 7 months old, became your every day baby. She slept through the night and didn't cry as much. Elphaba began to relax and begin to enjoy being a mother. She had stopped worrying that she would not be a good mother and she went back to her normal self. Melanie had begun to say a few words. She said mama, dada, Nessa, Boq and Glinnie.

"She's growing up really fast," said Fiyero as he watched Elphaba change Melanie's diaper. Elphaba was to occupied to answer him. "Here," she said as she handed the diaper to Fiyero, who took it, then realized what it was and how bad it smelt.

"Elphaba!" he exclaimed at the dirty diaper. Elphaba turned around and smiled at him.

"Sorry! I thought you were paying attention," she laughed. She put a new diaper on Melanie and set her down. Melanie then crawled out of the room. She was a really fast crawler. Elphaba followed Melanie into the kitchen. Melanie pointed to the bottle of warm milk on the counter and opened her mouth. She was really good at charades. Elphaba picked up Melanie and gave her the bottle. Melanie then squirmed out of Elphaba's grasp and, with the bottle in her mouth, crawled out the room. She went into the parlor where Glinda and Nessa were sewing. Melanie crawled in front of them and put on her cutest baby face.

"Should we give it to her now?" asked Nessa.

"I think we should," answered Glinda. Nessa and Glinda pulled out a pretty pink dress made out of silk. Melanie smiled with delight. Elphaba entered the room as they were putting the dress on Melanie.

"Another pink dress?" asked Elphaba. This was the third pink dress of the month.

"Fine, Elphie, the next one will be blue," joked Glinda.

"Should we give Elphaba her dress," asked Nessa, who really wanted to show Elphaba what they made.

"You made me a new dress?" Elphaba wasn't expecting a new dress.

Glinda pulled out the dress for Elphaba. It was an exact match of Melanie's dress.

"You made matching dresses for Melanie and me?" Elphaba asked as she took the beautiful dress from Glinda.

"It's been a while, and your old black dress is getting very depressing." It was true. Elphaba's black dress, although it was very elegant, was a little depressing.

"Go try it on," urged Glinda as she pushed Elphaba down the hall and into the bathroom.

"Elphaba came out five minutes later in her stunning new dress. It fit her perfectly. She went back into the parlor to get Melanie. She was sitting on Nessa's lap. Nessa handed Melanie to Elphaba and said, "Aw, you two look so adorable in your matching dresses!"

Elphaba smiled and took Melanie, who was ready for a nap, back to her room and put her down to sleep.

"You have the greatest family in the world." Elphaba said as she kissed the head of her sleeping baby and laid her in her crib.

The next day, Melanie became very fussy. She would cry a lot and not want to be held by anyone except her mommy. The Queen looked at her.

"She's teething," announced the Queen

"Isn't it a bit early?" asked Elphaba.

"Some babies teeth earlier than others."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Try giving her a nice warm bath and a teething toy. That should work."

"Thank you," said Elphaba as she picked up Melanie and went into the bathroom. Melanie didn't want to have a bath, but she didn't cry or whine.

"That's my good little girl," cooed Elphaba as she dried Melanie off.

She went into Melanie's room to put her in her crib. As soon as Elphaba left the room, Melanie began to cry. Elphaba went back into the room and picked up Melanie. Melanie hated to be alone. Elphaba carried Melanie around with her for the rest of the day.


	5. The Uniform

"Melanie, come down for dinner, please!" called Elphaba from the bottom of the stairs.

Melanie, now 10, came running down the stairs in a pink, frilly dress. She jumped down the last three steps and landed on her feet.

"Melanie, you that there is no running in the house," sighed Elphaba.

"Yes, Mother," sang Melanie as she ran into the washroom to wash her hands.

Elphaba went into the dining room. "She is getting to be quite a handful," said Elphaba as she sat down at the table next to Fiyero.

"She's 10 years-old now, Elphie. She needs to make some friends," said Glinda, putting a forkful of rice into her mouth.

"She should start Vinkus Academy. She's old enough. She needs to be with children her own age," added Glinda.

Melanie came running into the kitchen, her long black hair flying behind her. She took her seat next to her mother.

"So, Elphaba, are we going to do it?" asked Fiyero.

"Do what?" asked Melanie, with her mouth full of food.

"Melanie Glinda Sarah Tigelaar, don't talk with your mouth full!" scolded Elphaba.

"Yes, Mother," responded Melanie, swallowing her food.

"How would you like to start school next week at Vinkus Academy?" asked Nessa, dapping her napkin on her chin.

"I've never really thought about it before. I would love to!" exclaimed Melanie. Elphaba had never seen her daughter more exciting for anything in her life.

"Alright. You win. Melanie will start school next week," said Elphaba, excepting defeat.

"Yes!" shouted Melanie, leaning over to hug her mother. "Oh, thank you, Mother! I love you so much!" Melanie squeezed the mother and ran out the room and up the stairs.

"Would she have still said that if I had said no?" Elphaba playfully asked. Everyone laughed.

* * *

The next week came very quickly. Melanie was singing in her room, wearing her favorite pink dress with gold trimming. Glinda came into the room.

"Are you all ready for… school?" Glinda's mouth dropped open after seeing what Melanie was wearing.

"Is this too much for the first day?" asked Melanie, twirling around.

"You're mother didn't tell you, did she?" Glinda asked as she sat at the edge of the bed, motioning for Melanie to sit next to her.

"Tell me what?" asked Melanie, very confused.

"Vinkus Academy required a uniform," said Glinda gently.

"A… uniform? What's a uniform?" asked Melanie.

"It's when all of the girls have to wear the same thing." Glinda said quietly.

Melanie screamed at the top of her lungs. Nessa came running into the room, with the uniform dress.

"I have to wear a uniform?!" cried Melanie. She looked at her aunt. Tears filled her eyes.

"Yes, honey. But look!" she said as she held up the uniform for Melanie to see. It was the ugliest thing that Melanie had seen. It was a white and gray-stripped dress.

"It's not that bad, sweetie," said Nessa, trying to calm Melanie down to the point where she would actually hear her. "It even has a bow in the back," she said, turning the dress around so Melanie could see the back. "Just try it on! I think that you will like it!"

Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes and took the dress from her aunt. She quickly changed into the dress. When she looked at herself in the mirror, the dress went just past her knees. She put on her knee-length white socks and black flats. She sat down in her sky blue chair (probably the only thing in her room that wasn't pink) so her aunt could brush her hair. Nessa was very gentile and finished quickly. Then, she went to the dresser and pulled out a pink headband and gingerly placed it in Melanie's hair. Melanie's black silky hair was cascading behind her back like a waterfall. Melanie smiled up at her aunt and said, "Thank you, Aunt Nessa!" Nessa gave her a hug. "You're very welcome, dear. Now, hurry downstairs for breakfast. It will be time to go soon."

Melanie ran downstairs for breakfast. Elphaba was sitting down, finishing up her last bit of toast. She looked up and saw Melanie coming in. "Good morning, sweat heart! Ready for your first day of school?"

Melanie sat down next to her mother. "I guess so. I'm not really hungry this morning."

"You just have cold feet, that's all. You should really eat something, dear. It's not good to skip breakfast," encouraged Elphaba as she rubbed Melanie's arm.

Melanie ate one piece of toast. Elphaba left the table into the living room. She came back with a black bag. "I know that it's not pink and pretty, but this was my school bag when I was in school, and I would like you to have it." She gave the bag to Melanie.

It was old and tattered, but Melanie didn't care because her mother had given it to her. "Thank you, Mother," said Melanie. Elphaba kissed her daughter's head. Fiyero and Elphaba walked Melanie outside to the carriage. Elphaba gave her daughter one last hug and said, "Be a good girl. I'll be waiting for you when you get home." Fiyero kissed his daughter, opened the door and helped Melanie into the carriage. The driver whistled, and they were off. Melanie waved good-bye to parents, wishing that they would come with her. _Well, here I go_, thought Melanie as the carriage picked up speed.


	6. The First Day of School

The carriage stopped in front of a big, gray building. It was Vinkus Academy. The driver opened the door and helped her out of the carriage. Melanie stared up at the school. I was a very big school. She looked around at the other girls. They were all wearing the exact same dress as she was. "Oh, well. Might as well make the best of it." Melanie said to herself as the carriage drove off.

A girl came up to her. "Hi!" she said. "Are you Melanie?"

"Yes." Melanie replied shyly.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Luciana and I am going to be giving you a tour of the school."

"Okay." It was Melanie's first time off the castle grounds. She was very apprehensive. Luciana led her to the front desk to pick up her schedule. She was in the same classes as Luciana. First, she had Ozian History. Second, she had art. Third and forth, she had arithmetic. Fifth, she had lunch. Sixth and seventh, she had English. Eighth, she had music and ninth she had gym. Luciana led her to her homeroom. The bell rang, a few minutes later and they both ran into the room to get good seats.

Their homeroom teacher was a goat named Dr. Dillamond. He was very nice.

"Welcome, students, to another year at Vinkus Academy. My name is Dr. Dillamond and I will be your homeroom teacher this year. Before we begin, we have a new student, Miss Melanie Tigelaar. Miss Melanie, would you like to come up to the front of the classroom and tell us a little about yourself?"

Melanie didn't want to, but she agreed.

"Um… hello. My name is Melanie. I'm 10 years old and I live in the Upper Vinkus."

"Tell us about your parents," said Dr. Dillamond.

Melanie didn't want to play the 'my parents are the prince and princess of the Vinkus' card just yet, so she said, "My dad is very tall, with dark drown hair and my mom is also tall, with black hair, like mine, and she's very strict."

"Thank you, Miss Melanie. That was very interesting. Now, let's go around the room, say our names and an interesting fact about ourselves."

Melanie tried to pay attention to the girls who were speaking, but there were so many girls with so many different names; Phoebe, Blossom, Mary Grace, and a whole bunch of other names. Melanie felt her head spinning.

Classes began after ten minutes of homeroom. Melanie followed Luciana to the History room. It was a big classroom with two long benches. Melanie took her seat next to Luciana and the class began.

Melanie got through her morning classes just fine. When it was lunchtime, she looked around the room, but she didn't see Luciana. As she was walking around the cafeteria, someone tripped her and she fell to the ground.

"Oops, sorry!" the voice said, but Melanie could tell that it wasn't sincere.

Melanie got up to walk away, but she heard their voices making fun of her.

"Ugh, look at her!"

"She thinks that she's better than anyone else!"

"She couldn't do a simple levitation spell in Sorcery class, today!"

"I heard that her parents are weird."

"How weird?"

"Her dad is a scarecrow and her mother is a witch with skin is green!"

"Ew, green!"

"Green as grass!"

Melanie couldn't take it anymore. She turned around, stared right at them, and then the strangest thing happened. There was an explosion that filled the whole cafeteria. The lights flickered. Everyone screamed and ducked under the tables. The girl who had tripped her looked up at her with a scared face. Melanie was rising off the ground. She began chanting in a mysterious language. Fire appeared in her hands and she was about to throw it at the table when…

"Miss Melanie!" shouted a voice. It was the principle, Madame Adornus. Melanie, hearing her name being called, snapped out of her trance and fell to the ground with a _thud_. "You are in so much trouble, young lady!" the principle said as she grabbed Melanie by the arm and pulled her into her office.

In her office, she ordered Melanie to sit down. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she asked Melanie, her cold blue eyes staring right into Melanie's soft brown eyes.

"I don't know what happened. Honest! Those girls were making fun of me and I lost control of myself."

"You got that right!" muttered the principle, under her breath. She continued to mutter words under her breath as she wrote something on a piece of paper. Melanie assumed that it was a letter to her parents. _I'm going to be in so much trouble when I get home_, thought Melanie.

The principle snapped her fingers and the letter vanished. "You are free to go back to your classes, Miss Melanie," she said coldly.

Melanie slumped her bag over her shoulder and walked out the room. Outside the office, Luciana was waiting for her.

"What happened to you in the cafeteria?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just lost control of myself. All I know is that I am going to be in big trouble when I get home."

"Only people that are born into royalty could have the possible chance of having –" she stopped. "Are you…?"

"Yes," replied Melanie. Luciana began to bow before Melanie. "Stop! Get up! I don't want anyone to know."

"Why not?" asked Luciana, getting up.

"I don't want to be known as the girl that gets whatever she wants because she is the Princess of the Vinkus. I want to be normal."

"Okay, if you say so." Luciana said as she reached for Melanie's hand. Melanie took it and the girls were off to their afternoon classes. Melanie dreaded when the day was over and she had to go home and face her parents, who didn't know that she possessed magical abilities in the first place.


	7. You Don't Understand!

The carriage ride home was long and quiet. When they reached the castle, Melanie didn't want to get out of the carriage. But she knew that her parents were expecting her, so she got out and slowly began the walk up to the front door. She opened the door and, just and she expected, were her parents, sitting on the couch, facing her. Her mother wore a scowl that could make milk curl. Her father was wearing a frown, though not as angry-looking as Elphaba's. Her parents stood up.

"Care to explain?" asked Elphaba, holding up the letter that the principal wrote.

Fiyero was trying very hard to calm Elphaba down so she wouldn't blow the roof off of the castle. Melanie bit her bottom lip. She shifted her weight and finally said, "It wasn't my fault!" cried Melanie.

"Oh, really?" She could tell that her mother didn't believe her. "It was not your fault that you almost set a lunch table on FIRE?!" Fiyero stepped back from Elphaba, like he expected her to flare up.

"They were making fun of me. They were saying that I thought that I was better than everybody else!"

"That's no excuse to behave improperly!" scolded Elphaba.

"What would you know about people being mean? No one is ever mean to you. You don't know what it's like. They called me a freak, Mom! A freak!" shouted Melanie as she stormed up the stairs and into her room. She slammed the door and cried into her pillow.

Elphaba lost her scowl. She sat back down on the couch and cried. Fiyero wrapped his arms around her. Fiyero didn't have to ask to know that Elphaba's old childhood memories of kids teasing her because of her skin color.

"What are we going to do about that girl? I knew she wasn't ready for the Academy!" Elphaba sobbed into her husbands arm.

Fiyero rubbed her arm and kissed her forehead. "We both knew that raising a daughter, a princess, would not be an easy road. We just have to keep trying! We will get though this."

Elphaba wiped the tears from her eyes. Nessa and Glinda, who had heard the entire conversation from the kitchen, came up to them.

"Would you like us to talk to her?" asked Glinda.

Elphaba nodded. "Please."  
Nessa and Glinda hurried up the stairs. They knocked softly on Melanie's door.

"Go away!" shouted Melanie.

Nessa opened the door, anyway. "It's us," she said. "We're not going to yell at you. We just want to talk to you."

They sat on either side of Melanie on her bed. Nessa gently rubbed her back and Glinda gave her a cup of warm milk.

"Melanie, dear, I know that the first day of school can be really hard." Glinda started. "But your mom –"

"My mom doesn't understand. People started to call me a freak after I almost singed those girls."

"You're mother understands much more than you give her credit for," said Nessa. "Actually, your mother, Glinda and I went to college together. Everyone there reviled you mother because of her skin. They called her every name you could think of." Nessa said as she gave Melanie a tissue. "Green bean, artichoke, and a freak." Melanie calmed down a little. "And your mother also possesses magical powers, just like yours." Melanie looked up at her aunt.

"Oh, yes. When we were getting our room assignments in collage. The headmistress, Madame Morrible, the old fish head –"

"Glinda!" shouted Nessa.

"What? Oh, fine! Madame Morrible was giving out the room assignments and your mother and Nessa, who was in a wheelchair, were assigned to separate rooms. Your mother got angry, and as Madame Morrible was wheeling your aunt away, screamed 'Let her go!' and the wheelchair started spinning and rolled back to Elphaba."

"Aunt Nessa, you were in a wheelchair?" Nessa nodded. "But –"

"That day, my father had given my a pair of jeweled shoes. Years later, your mother enchanted them to give me the power to walk," Nessa answered as she took off one of her shoes and showed them to Melanie. Melanie was admiring the shoes when Fiyero came into the room.

"Is everything alright in here?" he asked.

"Everything's fine," answered Melanie as she gave her aunt back her shoe.

Melanie ran down the stairs to her mother, who was still sitting on the couch.

"I'm very sorry for snapping at you and for saying that you don't understand what it feels like to be teased, when you went through much worse than me," said Melanie as she approached her mother. Elphaba turned around, stood up and opened her arms for a hug. Melanie ran into her mother's arms and cried. Elphaba kissed her forehead.

"It's okay, sweetie. I know how hard the first day of school can be." She wiped the tears from Melanie's face. "But now I'm going to have to teach you how to control your powers. It seems very early. I didn't learn how to control my powers until college. But, it's never to early to learn," she said as she smiled at her daughter.

Melanie stopped crying and looked up at her mother and smiled. She had a lot to learn.


	8. Homeschool

The next day, as she was walking into the school with her head held high, Melanie was determined not to let the petty insults of the other girls get to her. If her mother could endure people calling her every insult that they could think of, Melanie could too. As she walked into the crowded hallways, everyone backed away from her. Melanie went straight to her classroom. As she opened the door, a bucket fell on her head. Melanie screamed. When she removed the bucket from her head and wiped her eyes, she saw that there was green paint oozing down her uniform. She heard snickers coming from the room. She was glad when Luciana came over to her to give her a towel.

"I'm so sorry, Melanie. I wanted to tell you before you came in, but I didn't see you." Luciana apologized as she helped Melanie wipe the paint off of her face.

"It's alright." Melanie sighed.

"Well, well, well, Melanie. You look just like you mother. Greenified!" laughed one of the girls.

"NO… ONE… INSULTS… MY… FAMILY!" Melanie managed to say through her clenched teeth. It took all of the strength in her body not to unleash her powers on them.

"Are you sure you don't want to play your 'princess of the Vinkus' card now?" asked Luciana.

Melanie nodded. Dr. Dillamond came in a few minutes later. When he saw Melanie, he almost dropped the stack of books he was carrying. "Miss Melanie, what happened to you?" he exclaimed as he put his books on his desk and ran back to Melanie's side. Melanie was too busy crying to answer. "We will go to the principal's office." Melanie allowed Dr. Dillamond to walk her to the principal's office.

"Come in," said the principal after Dr. Dillamond knocked on the door.

"Parton me, Madame, but Miss Melanie had a little paint accident."

Madame Adornus looked at Melanie, who was covered in green paint from head to toe. "Thank you, Doctor. I can manage from here."

Dr. Dillamond nodded and left the office. Melanie bursted into tears.

"Would you like for me to call your parents?" she asked.

Melanie nodded. Madame Adornus picked up the old-fashioned telephone. "Hello? This is Madame Adornus from Vinkus Academy. It appears that Miss Melanie had an accident and wished to return home for the day. You'll send the carriage over? Thank you. Melanie will be waiting. Good bye," she sang as she hung up the phone.

Madame Adornus walked Melanie out of her office. "Miss Luciana," she says to Luciana, who was sitting down on the bench outside the office. Dr. Dillamond sent her to make sure that Melanie was okay. "Would you be so kind as to wait with Miss Melanie till her parent's arrive?"

"Yes, Madame," said Luciana standing up and putting an arm around Melanie.

Luciana walked Melanie outside. "I want to be homeschooled," muttered Melanie under her breath.

"It gets better," assured Luciana. "Believe me, I know. Zoe and Martha did the exact same thing to me when I first started to come here. Those girls want to see if you are weak. If you appear weak, they will keep picking on you. If you show them that you can take it, they will stop."

"That's easier said than done," whimpered Melanie.

The carriage pulled up to the school. Melanie didn't wait for the driver to step down to help her. She yanked the door open and hurried inside.

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Luciana.

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you," called Melanie as the carriage pulled off.

When she returned to the castle, Melanie opened the door to find her aunt and Glinda sitting on the couch, doing needlepointing. Nessa looked up and saw Melanie. Her mouth dropped open. "Oh. My. Oz!" she exclaimed. Glinda looked up. "Melanie, what happened to you?" Boq and Fiyero emerged from the kitchen, with small cakes in their hands that they knew they weren't supposed to have. They stopped and looked at Melanie. "Oh dear," said Boq. Fiyero lost his voice for a second, and then found it again. "Elphie, sweet heart, can you come down here please?" Elphaba, who had just woken up from a nap, came down the staircase, but stopped as soon as she saw her daughter covered in green paint. Her eyes widened and she placed her hand over her mouth. Her mouth opened and closed many times before she said anything.

"Oh sweet Oz, Melanie! Is… that… paint?" Elphaba gingerly asked.

Melanie bit her lip. "Yes, it's paint! Can I please be homeschooled? Please?" She ran up the stairs, past her mother. Elphaba ran up after her. She found Melanie in her room, sobbing, She went over to the bed and hugged her.

"Shhhhhh, it's okay. It's okay," she said as she rocked Melanie back and forth.

"I-I- just wanted to be b-b-brave and s-strong like you," cried Melanie. "But instead, I get g-g-green paint d-d-dropped on me as I go into c-c-class."

"Why would the girls do this to you?" asked Elphaba, kissing Melanie's forehead.

Melanie didn't want to tell her mother what they said about her mother being green or how her had to hold back the urge to turn them into mice. So she just said, "To be mean. May I please be homeschooled? I want to stay here, with you."

Elphaba considered this. Although she wanted to be with Melanie all day, she thought that it was best for her to attend school with other girls her age. She told Melanie this. She thought that Melanie would cry out all of the water in her body.

"You will feel better when we wash this green paint off of you," Elphaba said as she lifted Melanie off the bed and carried her into the washroom. Melanie clung to her mother with a her strength and kept on repeating the word, "homeschool."


	9. Not going back Without Her

The next day, Melanie begged her aunt to let her stay home from school. She came up with every excuse in the book.

"I'm sick!"

"But you don't have a fever."

"I'm tired."

"You went to bed early last night."

"I'm… I…"

"Ran out of excuses?"

"…Yes…"

Nessa exhaled. "Melanie, I think that it is for the best that you go to school today."

Melanie gave up. She knew that she should have asked Glinda. "Okay. But what if they pour green paint on my again?"

"Then pour pink paint on them!" giggled Glinda as she entered the room.

"Glinda! You know that getting even is not the answer," scolded Nessa.

"Okay," said Glinda as she sat on the bed next to Melanie.

"It's going to be alright, Melanie. Just remember who you are and everything else will turn out fine," Glinda said as she ended her pep talk.

"I'll do that! Thank you!" Melanie said as she hugged her aunt and Glinda.

Once Melanie was at school, she did what her aunt and Glinda advised her to do. She held her head up high and thought to herself, _If my mother and be brave and courageous, so can I._ Thinking that got her through the day.

At recess, Melanie walked around the ground, looking for Luciana. She finally found her and ran up to her. "Luciana!" she called out to her friends as she ran. Luciana turned and smiled at Melanie. "Hi, Mel-" she fell forward. Something had hit her in the back of the head. Melanie ran faster.

"Luciana!" she shouted as she shook her best friend. Luciana didn't move. Melanie screamed. Madame Adornus ran out with a fellow teacher, whom Melanie didn't know. "Send for the ambulance," ordered Madame Adornus to the teacher. "Yes, Madame," and she ran inside.

Melanie began to cry. _Please don't die, Luciana. Please don't leave me here by myself,_ Melanie thought.

The ambulance came very quickly. Melanie begged the principal to let her go with Luciana. At first the principal was skeptical, but Melanie through a fit until she gave in. Melanie climbed into the ambulance and sat next to the unconscious Luciana.

"Everything is going to be alright," she told her friend. She held Luciana's hand. It was very cold. Melanie rubbed Luciana's hand in her own to make it warmer. It barley helped.

At the hospital, Melanie was told that she had to wait in the waiting room. A few hours later, a doctor emerged. "Who are the parents of Luciana Dothmart?" he called. Melanie stepped forward. "Her parent's aren't here yet. I'm her friend." Just then, a man and a woman, whom Melanie assumed were Luciana's parents, came running through the door. "Is our Luciana all right?" asked Luciana's mother.

"She's alive, but I think that you and your husband should come with me," said the doctor.

The couple followed and a few seconds later, a piercing scream filled the air. _Oh, no!_ thought Melanie. The couple came out of the room, with Mrs. Dothmart in tears. Melanie gingerly approached them.

"Hello, my name is Melanie. I am a friend of Luciana. And I was just wondering if she is okay," she politely asked.

Mrs. Dothmart chocked and said, "She's blind. A rock hit her on the back of the head, causing pressure in her brain," she said, breaking into a sob.

"She will be able to see again when the pressure goes down," said the doctor, trying to put Mrs. Dothmart's mind at ease. "I can't tell you when that will happen, though." I could be week, months, or even years." He shouldn't have said _years,_ because as soon as he did, Mrs. Dothmart started balling. Melanie bit her bottom lip, thinking that it was better if she didn't cry in front of Luciana's mother.

"May we please go in and see her?" asked Luciana's father.

"Sure," said the doctor.

They started to go in. A few minutes later, they came out and Mr. Dothmart said to Melanie, "Melanie, Luciana wishes to speak to you," he said in a quiet voice.

Melanie stood up and walked to the door. She pushed it open and there was a long hallway. "All the way down the hall and to the right," instructed the doctor.

Melanie followed the instructions and found Luciana, lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. Melanie knocked very lightly.

"Melanie?" asked Luciana, slightly turning her head towards the door.

"I'm here," said Melanie as she slowly walked towards Luciana and gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry this happened to you! This is all my fault! If I hadn't –" she was cut off my Luciana covering her mouth with her hand. "Nothing is your fault, Melanie," she said looking directly at her. She patted the bed, motioning for Melanie to sit down next to her. Luciana, wanted Melanie to stop worrying about her, tried to change the subject and talk about happier things. Melanie's tone told her that she was about to cry. The doctor came in. "I'm sorry, girls, but Luciana has to get some rest now. You can visit her again tomorrow," he said as he escorted Melanie out of the room. She gave Luciana one last hug and left.

One thing was for certain, though. Melanie didn't want to go back to school if Luciana wasn't going to be there. Not even if her aunt made her. She would just to into the flower field and stay there until someone noticed her. She was not going back to that school without Luciana.


	10. Surprise

The next morning, Elphaba went into Melanie's room to wake her up. She opened the door to find Melanie missing. "Melanie?" Elphaba whispered, but Melanie didn't answer. Elphaba looked all over the castle. "Melanie," she softly said, trying not to wake up the whole castle. She thought for a moment. A light bulb turned on inside her head and she ran outside. She found Melanie crying in the grassy flower field. She kneeled down beside her daughter and wrapped her arms around her.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" she asked.

Melanie looked into her mother's hazel eyes with her red, tearstained ones. "It's my fault!" she sobbed.

"What is?" Elphaba asked, still not following.

"Luciana! It's my fault that she was blinded." She cried into her mother's shoulder.

Elphaba looked down at her daughter. She saw so much of herself in her.

"Sweetie," Elphaba started, "nothing is your fault. When I was younger, I used to blame myself for your Aunt Nessa's condition." Elphaba started to cry a little. "It's not your fault."

Melanie looked up and saw her mother crying. Her mother was usually so strong and never cried. Elphaba composed herself and got up, extended her arms to Melanie, and pulled her up.

"Let's go back inside and get you ready for school," she said.

At school, Melanie could not pay attention to anything the teachers were saying. She just wanted school to end so she could visit Luciana.

As soon as school was over, she ran to the hospital. The hospital was two miles away from the school. Melanie didn't realize how far she ran until she reached her destination. She ran to the desk and said, "I'm Melanie Tigelaar and I'm here to see Luciana Dothmart," she told the receptionist, gasping for air.

"Luciana has been waiting for you," she said.

"Thank you," said Melanie as she slowly walked into Luciana's room. As soon as she walked in, she saw Luciana crying.

"Luciana, are you okay? What happened?" asked Melanie, grabbing her best friend's hand.

"The pressure was to supposed to be back to normal by now," Luciana sobbed. "It's permanent! As in, forever!"

Melanie hugged her sobbing friend and tried to get her to stop crying. She hummed a soothing song that her mother would sing to her to get her to stop crying. It worked. Luciana stopped crying. Melanie had an idea.

"Hey, we learned this new spell in sorcery class that I think might help," she said trying to make Luciana feel better. She took her sorcery book out of her bag and flipped to the page.

"Here it is," she said, showing the book to Luciana, and then remembered that she couldn't see it. "I just don't remember how to pronounce the words. I wish my mother –" The door opened. Elphaba was standing there with her hands crossed in front of her chest. Melanie played with the skirt of her uniform, knowing that she would be in a lot of trouble for not telling anyone where she was going.

"Melanie? What's wrong?" asked Luciana.

"Melanie…!" said Elphaba, in a serious tone.

"H-Hi, Mom," said Melanie, shaking.

"Don't 'Hi, Mom' me, young lady." Elphaba looked like her was going to blow, and Melanie knew that if she didn't come up with an excuse and fast, she would. "The carriage driver comes back to the castle without you and says that you ran right past him. You didn't you tell anyone where –" She stopped shouting when she saw Luciana. "Oh, this must be you're friend, Luciana," said Elphaba, stepping into the room, calming down. Luciana was sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling off. Elphaba reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Melanie has told me so much about you."

Luciana smiled. Melanie found this as an opportunity to sneak out of the room and face her mother later.

"Not so fast, young lady." Elphaba snapped. "You still haven't told me why you have come here without telling anyone." Elphaba let go of Luciana's hand and turned around to face her daughter. Melanie had to think, and think fast.

"I…I… I wanted to see Luciana," she finally said. Elphaba didn't look like she was buying it. "It's the truth. I barely made it through the day without her." Elphaba smiled, a good sign.

"Alright, I believe you," she said. Melanie let out the breath she had been holding. Melanie gave her mother the book. "We learned a new spell in sorcery class today," she said, turning to the page the spell was on. Elphaba studied it.

"And you want me to do it?" asked Elphaba, still studying the spell.

"Not really. I just wanted you to tell me how to pronounce the words, so I can do it."

"I don't know, Melanie. This is an advanced spell. Maybe I should do it, if you want me to," said Elphaba.

Melanie sighed. "Okay," she agreed.

Elphaba set the book down on the floor and kneeled before Luciana, who was still deeply confused. "What's going on?" she asked Elphaba.

"I'm going to try a spell and see if it helps you," she answered, as she started to move her hands over the book and started chanting. It sounded as if she were singing the spell. Elphaba then placed her hands on Luciana's cheeks and closed her eyes, focusing her energy. A few seconds later, Luciana screamed and held her head as if it were the only way to keep it from falling off her body. Melanie looked terrified, while Elphaba remained calm. Luciana stopped screaming, released her head and opened her eyes. A huge smile appeared on her face.

"It worked!" she shouted as she hugged Elphaba.

"Thank you so much!" she said to Elphaba.

"You are very welcome!" replied Elphaba.

The doctor ran in. He saw Melanie, Elphaba and Luciana in a group hug on the floor. The doctor immediately knew what happened and quickly check Luciana's eyes.

"Amazing! Luciana, you can go home today, if you wish."

"I would love to go home today." Luciana answered, still in the group hug.

"We will take her home," Elphaba told the doctor. The doctor nodded and returned a few seconds later with the release papers. Elphaba signed them and escorted Melanie and Luciana out of the hospital and into the carriage.


	11. Elphaba to the Rescue

Melanie and Luciana were walking into the school together. It had been a week since Luciana had received her sight, thanks to Elphaba. Melanie and Luciana were talking and laughing as they walked up the stairs. As they approached their homeroom, Melanie stopped Luciana.

"Hold on," she said as she pulled Luciana back from the door. Melanie channeled her powers and, with all her strength, opened the door. As soon as the door was fully opened, a bucket of slugs fell to the floor. Melanie focused her energy again and the slugs disappeared.

"That was close. Thanks Melanie!" said Luciana as she and Melanie walked into the classroom.

"Nice try," Melanie said to the group of girls who were sitting together, with their mouths dropped open. Melanie and Luciana laughed as they took their seats.

During recess, Melanie and Luciana were talking together, when they were interrupted by Madame Adornus' voice. Melanie looked up and her jaw dropped to the floor. She couldn't believe who she saw with the principal. She grabbed Luciana's arm and ran behind a tree. She couldn't believe this was happening. Luciana, being the slow poke that she is, looked at Melanie as if she were crazy. That's exactly what Luciana thought. _Melanie is going crazy._

"Tell me why we are hiding behind this tree," she asked Melanie, whose face was turning a bright shade of pink.

"What is she doing here?" Melanie asked no one in particular.

Luciana followed Melanie's gaze and her eyes widened. Both girls could hear a few words that the principal was saying to her guest.

"Yes… very hard for her… that would be great… the old sorcery teacher quit… thank you so much," Madame Adornus said as the two women entered the school building.

Melanie leaned against the tree and slid down until she was sitting. She hugged her knees and started to shake. Luciana tried to reassure her that everything would be okay.

"It's not that bad. Maybe things will turn out better than your think," Luciana said, rubbing Melanie's back.

"She's going to be the new sorcery teacher. This is very bad!" argued Melanie.

Her complaining was interrupted by a voice behind her.

"Well, well, well, look who's back," said the voice. "Maybe next time, we should try a bigger rock," she said as she came closer.

"Will you please leave us alone, Camara? We have done nothing to you!" shouted Luciana.

"And let's keep it that way!" Camara said as she picked up a rock. It had just left her hand when, suddenly, Melanie and Luciana were jolted off of the ground. They were floating in mid-air. They looked down. The woman that Madame Adornus was talking to a few minutes ago was raising her hands to make them go higher. Her mouth was moving, but Melanie and Luciana couldn't hear what she was saying, Melanie was relived that the women was there, but her worrying did not go away.

"Miss Camara Morrible!" shouted Madame Adornus stepping forward as the visitor lowered her arms. "Come with me, young lady!" Camara obeyed and followed Madame Adornus. The guest followed, glancing back at the girls and smiling.

The bell to go back to class rang and everyone headed for the stairs at once. Melanie was determined that she and Luciana were going to be the last people to enter the building. For the new sorcery teacher was none other than Melanie's mother.

At the beginning of sorcery class, when everyone was in their seats, Madame Adornus came in with Elphaba. Melanie looked like she was going to faint. It's not that she didn't want her mother there, which she did; it was that the other girls would see this as an excuse to tease her. She began to pinch herself, determined to wake up from this nightmare.

Madame Adornus addressed the class, "Class, this is Madame Tigelaar. The Princess of the Vinkus has graciously agreed to be your new sorcery teacher." Her smile then turned into a scowl. "And no slugs!" She narrowed her eyes and the group of girls who have been mean to Melanie. Apparently, she had heard about the slug prank. Melanie then began to smile. Elphaba gave each of the girls a feather. She said that they were going to practice their levitation skills.

"A light object, such as this feather, takes little focused energy to levitate. But a larger object, such as… such as… a person," Elphaba explained to the class, looking directly at Melanie and Luciana when she said 'person', "takes more focused energy than the feather would. Now, I would like all of you to focus your energy and try to levitate it."

"This is ridiculous!" said one of Camara's friends, whose name, Melanie thought, was Margareta, under her breath. "We all know how to levitate a silly little feather." But when she tried to levitate the feather, she instead set it on fire. The whole class screamed. Elphaba turned around, saw the burning feather, held out her hand and the fire came to her. The fire formed into a ball in her hands. Elphaba tossed it in the air and caught it a few times as if it were a ball. The fire died out and Elphaba said to Margareta, "Maybe we need to go over the levitation spell again, since you know it so well!" the laughed as she turned around to write something on the board. Melanie started to crack up. Margareta, however, was not laughing. She took a bucket from under her desk and said something under her breath. The bucket then filled with water. Margareta focused her energy on the bucket and it slowly rose and started to float above the class to where Elphaba was standing, writing the spell on the board. As soon as the bucket was directly over Elphaba's head, Luciana saw it.

She raised her hand. "Um… Madame Tigelaar?" she asked gingerly.

Elphaba turned around. "Yes Luci – AHHHHHHHH!" Elphaba screamed as the bucket of water was dumped on her. The bucket fell to the ground right next to her. The whole class gasped. No one dared to smile. The Princess was soaked. Melanie looked at her mother, waiting for her to blow, but she didn't. Instead, Elphaba began to laugh. It wasn't a 'That was so funny' laugh. It was more of an 'I'm not going to show that I am extremely hurt so I'll laugh' laugh. "Did you all expect that I would melt?" Elphaba sarcastically asked the class. The class violently shook their heads 'no'. Elphaba stopped laughing. The principal ran in.

"Is everything alright? I heard a scream and… Oh dear," she said as she realized that Elphaba was soaking wet. "I'll fetch a towel right away!" she started to run out the room. She came back a few minutes later with a towel for Elphaba. Elphaba smiled as she began to dry her face and arms. "Thank you," she said as she handed the towel back to Madame Adornus. Madame Adornus left the room and left Elphaba alone with the class.

Elphaba muttered something and she became completely dry.

"Now," she said calmly, "back to levitating feathers." Elphaba continued with the lesson as if nothing happened, but Melanie knew that, deep down, her mother wanted to cry.


	12. I Understand

As soon as the class was over, everyone ran out of the room, except for Melanie and Luciana. Both girls walked up to Elphaba, who was setting up for the next class. She didn't seem to notice that they were standing there. Finally, Melanie spoke up.

"We never got a chance to thank you for saving us from Camara." Elphaba turned around and saw the two girls standing there. Melanie looked at her mother. She had been crying. And after having water dumped on her on her first day teaching, she couldn't blame her. Elphaba looked stunned to see the two girls standing there.

"I thought that you didn't want me here," Elphaba said, crossing her arms in front of her.

Melanie shifted uncomfortably. "It wasn't that."

Elphaba sighed. "Melanie, I know that it was."

Melanie looked up. "A mother knows," Elphaba said, cracking a smile.

Melanie looked at Luciana. "I think that you should tell her," coached Luciana as she thanked Elphaba for saving them and left for her next class. Melanie was left alone with her mother.

"Well? What did you want to tell me?" Elphaba asked.

Melanie played with the hem of her uniform for a little while. "Remember when I came home with the paint covering me?" Elphaba nodded. "When it happened, the girls said that I looked 'greenified' like you." Melanie stopped to see what her mother would say. Elphaba didn't say anything. Melanie continued. "And when you accepted the job as the new sorcery teacher, I thought that it would make the kids want to torture me more. I thought that they would say that I begged you to take the job so you would be here to protect me."

Elphaba smiled. "That's exactly why I took the job."

Melanie stopped playing with her dress. "What?"

"I was so worried that what happened to Luciana would happen to you," Elphaba started, "So when I heard that there was a sorcery teacher opening, I took it." It was now Elphaba's turn to play with her clothing. "I wanted to protect you. That's my job as a mother," she said, smiling.

Melanie ran into her mother's arms and hugged her. Both of them started to cry a little. "You're doing a great job," said Melanie.

Elphaba thought that her heart would burst with joy.

The next day, in sorcery class, Elphaba came into the room with a smile on her face. She was determined not to let yesterday's little spill dampen her mood. The room was dead silent and everyone looked at her. Elphaba continued to smile and said, "Please open your books to page 213. Today, we will be learning how to change our cloths by just snapping." The classed _oooooed_ as she demonstrated. She changed out of her black dress into a yellow one. The class applauded her. There was a bucket hovering over her head, but Elphaba was so quick this time. She stepped out of the way, just in time, as the bucket that was filled with slime. Elphaba started to laugh. "Miss Margareta, can you come up to the front of the room, please?" she asked in her politest voice. There were a few whispers around the room as Margareta slowly walked up to Elphaba.

"Now, I know that it was you who pulled the water prank on me yesterday. Don't ask me how I know and don't deny it. Now," she said as she handed Margareta a piece of chalk, "I would like you to write 'I will not drench the teacher' one hundred times on the board. The entire class broke down into a fit of laughter. Margareta's eyes widened. "Go on," smiled Elphaba.

Margareta began to write on the board, embarrassment written all over her face. After Margareta wrote it about twenty times, Elphaba stopped her. "That will do. Thank you. You may take your seat now." Margareta sat back down, trying to fight her tears. Elphaba taught about changing clothes for the rest of the day. When the bell rang, she dismissed the class and said, "Thank you everyone for your attention. Tomorrow, we will learn how to fly on brooms." The class sounded really excited and talked amongst themselves as the left the room. Melanie smiled and waved her mom 'good-bye' as she left the room. Elphaba waved 'good-bye to her daughter and prepared for the next class.


	13. The Sleepover

At the end of the day, Melanie went to look for her mother. She wasn't in the sorcery room. Melanie looked outside. The carriage was waiting for her, but her mother wasn't there. Luciana ran up to her, relieved the Melanie had not left yet.

"Melanie!" Luciana called out to her friend. Melanie turned around.

"Yes?" she asked

Luciana had to catch her breath for a few seconds. "Remember your first day here?"

"How can I forget it?"

"And how I said that only people born into royalty can have magical powers?"

"Yes."

"Well, it turns out that anyone can have magical powers if their family has a high position, like royalty, governor or prime minister."

"Okay…"

"Melanie," Luciana sighed. "You're not getting it."

"What do you mean?" Melanie was still looking for her mother.

"You are more powerful, magic wise and status wise. You can show those girls who's boss. They shouldn't be pushing you around. They shouldn't be pulling pranks on you… or your mother."

"Speaking of my mother, have you seen her?"

"No, sorry. But I have a great idea. The next time those girls are picking on you, to this." Luciana whispered something into Melanie's ear. Melanie's listened gasped when Luciana finished.  
"I can't do that!" Melanie said.

"Kill them with kindness," suggests Luciana.

Melanie gave in. "Alright! But I'm telling you. I don't think that this is a good idea."

Luciana hugged Melanie. "Don't worry! It will be."

Luciana ran off to meet her parents, while Melanie went to her carriage. _Maybe Mom went home early_, she thought.

When Melanie returned home, she went into the flower garden behind the castle and found her mother and father sitting in the grass. She didn't want to interrupt them, so she set her bag down and climbed a tree. Melanie liked to climb trees. It was good exercise and trees were great hiding places where she could go if she wanted privacy or wanted to escape the wrath of her mother. She overheard her parent's conversation.

"I don't know what else to do. I want to be there for Melanie, but I can't take it anymore. Those kids will end up seriously hurting Melanie… or me, if I stay."

"I know you want to protect Melanie, Fae, but we can't always be with hovering over her. She's getting older and she's going to want her space."

"But between the paint and the water –"

"You didn't tell me anything about water. Is Melanie alright?"

"Melanie wasn't the one to get drenched, Yero."  
"It was you?"

Elphaba nodded.

"What happened?"

"One of the girls set a feather on fire instead of levitating it. She got mad at me because she thought that I was underestimating the class. So, she filled a bucket with water, levitated it, and the next thing I know, I'm covered in water. It was like they expected me to melt or something."  
Fiyero hugged Elphaba and told her that everything was going to be okay. Elphaba then pulled Fiyero in for a kiss. After about thirty seconds, Fiyero pulled away and helped Elphaba to her feet. They began to walk back to the castle, when Elphaba noticed Melanie's bag.

"That's weird. Melanie's bag is here. Melanie!" Elphaba called.

Melanie didn't answer from the tree. A few seconds later, they heard a little sneeze. Melanie fell out of the tree and landed on the ground with a _thud_ in front of her parents. Fiyero and Elphaba laughed.

"Were you spying on us?" Fiyero playfully asked his daughter as he scooped her into his arms.

"No, I was looking for Mom," Melanie replied.

Fiyero raised his eyebrow.

Melanie sighed, "And spying… a little."

Melanie knew just what to do. If she played her cards right, she could get out of this without her parents asking to many questions. She sat there with her parents for a while.

"Well, I have to go back inside and check on Nessa and Glinda. We've been out here for a while," said Fiyero as he got up. He kissed Elphaba and Melanie, and left.

"Mom, I was wondering if I could have a sleepover with some of the girls from school?"

"Where would it be?" Elphaba asked.

Melanie hesitated before answering. "Here."

"Here?"

"Here."

"When?"

"This weekend."

"What?"

"Please?"

"Melanie..."

"It was Luciana's idea."

Elphaba thought for a moment. Then she smiled. Melanie was finally making more friends. Luciana was a good friend to Melanie, but it's nice to have more than one friend.

"Okay, you can have a sleepover." Elphaba gave in. Melanie jumped on her mother and gave her a giant bear hug. They walked into the castle together, eager for the weekend to come.


	14. You're Gonna be Popular

The weekend finally came. Melanie was singing and dancing all around the castle. She was very jumpy and excited. She was so excited that she couldn't stop shaking at the dinner table.

"Melanie, dear, I know that you are excited, but please stop shaking," Elphaba sighed.

"Melanie, what are you so excited about?" asked Glinda, who didn't know about the sleepover.

"Mother said that I could have a sleepover this weekend," said Melanie, who managed to stop shaking long enough for Glinda to understand her.

Glinda gasped, "You're very first sleepover! This is one of the biggest moments in a girl's life, next to having your first kiss, getting married and having your first baby…"

"Glinda!" interrupted Nessa. Melanie was, after all, only ten years old.

"What? It is!" Nessa's frown did not go away. "Fine, we will discuss all of that other stuff later. But right now, I'm going to teach you how to be popular."

"Oh, no! Not this again," complained Elphaba.

"You, on the other hand, Elphie, need a review. You have not been practicing."

"Toss, toss!" joked Fiyero.

Elphaba gave him death look. "Watch it!" she warned.

Fiyero laughed.

"Fine, if you think that it will help," Elphaba said.

"It will! You are never to old to learn how to be popular." Glinda smiled

"I'M NOT OLD!" screamed Elphaba.

Glinda stayed silent, because she didn't want to anger Elphaba and make her change her mind. After dinner, Melanie and Glinda went up into Glinda's room for Melanie's first popular lesson.

"First, hair. This is how you toss your hair." Glinda demonstrated a perfect over-the-shoulder hair toss. Melanie copied Glinda. "Well done!" praised Glinda. She did it again. Glinda and Melanie were toss-tossing and laughing until they saw Elphaba and Nessa standing in the doorway.

"Aunt Nessa, you try it!" encouraged Melanie.

"Toss, toss!" said Nessa, as she tossed her shoulder length dark brown hair over her shoulder and laughed. Glinda and Melanie applauded her and Nessa joined the girls laughing on the floor.

"Come on, Elphie! You remember! Toss, toss!" Glinda said as she pulled Elphaba into the room.

"Glinda, I can't," protested Elphaba.

"You can, and you will! Or do I need to give you a make over, again?" asked Glinda as she put her hands on her hips. Elphaba sighed. Glinda-one. Elphaba-zero.

"Toss, toss!" said Elphaba, as she smiled and tossed her long, black hair over the shoulder.

"You have been practicing! I'm so proud of you!" Glinda hugged her best friend.

Elphaba joined the girls on the floor and laughed. They were laughing and toss-tossing for the rest of the evening.

The next day was Saturday, the day of the sleepover. Luciana came over early to help Melanie set up. They took out the extra beds and blankets. Melanie showed Luciana how to toss her hair. Luciana didn't get it at first, so Melanie told her to keep practicing. With everything set up and the sleepover only a few hours away, Melanie was starting to second guess herself.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" she asked Luciana, doubtfully.

"Of course! Kill them with kindness! That's what my mother always says," Luciana replied.

"I'm just going to take your word for it," Melanie responded.

The few hours went be really quickly and the sleepover party would start in a few minutes. There was a knock on the door. Nessa answered it. The girls were starting to arrive.

"Hello, and welcome to our home," Nessa greeted the girls as they walked in.

Melanie inhaled. This was going to be a long night, and she knew it.


	15. What I Must Do

Melanie inhaled deeply as the girls arrived for the sleepover. She should them into their gigantic living room and told them that they could set up their sleeping bags there. Melanie then gave them a tour of the castle. She showed them all of the rooms, except one.

"What's in that room," one of the girls said as she pointed to the closed door.

"That's my parent's room. We're not allowed in there,"

They started to open the door when Melanie dragged them away. "My mom is in there and she asked us not to disturb her."

"Is it true that your mom is green?" the girl that opened the door asked her.

Melanie closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes, she's green. Yes, she was born that way. No, I do not know why. And yes, she will kill us if she has to come out here to tell us to be quiet."

Melanie took her guests back downstairs to the living room. There were ten girls, including herself and Luciana.

"I'm starting to regret this already," Melanie whispered to Luciana. Luciana rubbed her arm and told her that everything was going to be fine. Melanie found out that Luciana would be very wrong in a few minutes.

Everyone was having a nice time at the sleepover. Glinda was giving all of the girls makeovers (despite Nessa's objections). Everything was going perfectly until a monkey came flying into the room. All of the girls screamed. Glinda was out of the room, getting more makeup for the girls. The monkey flew up to Melanie and started chattering something to her. Melanie seemed to understand what the Monkey was saying.

"What?  
"No."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, she said that she didn't want to be disturbed."

"It's not his fault."

"What do you mean?"

It took Melanie a while to realize that everyone was starring at her. When she did, all of the blood drained from her face and she looked very pale. Luciana's eyes were wide and her mouth was open.

"Um… Melanie? Can you understand what he is saying?" Luciana asked, coming closer to Melanie.

"Yeah. Can't you?" Melanie replied, looking confused.

Luciana shook her head 'no'. A lot of the girls began to snicker and whisper.

"Who is she talking to?"

"She's talking to a monkey!"

"A monkey?"

"A monkey!"

Melanie felt her face getting hot. She wanted to run and hide under a rock.

"Well, Melanie. Up until today I thought that maybe you wouldn't be the biggest freak at Vinkus Academy. I was so wrong. I owe Zoe five dollars." Margareta said, smirking at Melanie.

Glinda came in and saw the monkey. Her dropped the make up she was carrying. The monkey turned around, saw Glinda and chattered to her. Glinda looked shocked.

"What?"

"Oh no!"

"Elphaba would be freaked out!"

"I thought that they were gone."

"Okay, I'll tell her as soon as I get the chance."

The monkey flew away and Glinda was acting like nothing happened. "Well, are we ready to continue our make up lessons?" she asked the girls.

Melanie was ready to fly off the handle. She couldn't hold it in anymore. She released her powers on Margareta. All of the make up exploded all over Margareta. Everyone found this funny, everyone except Margareta. Glinda tried very hard not to laugh, being the adult in charge, but not even she could hold it in. She joined the other girls rolling and laughing on the floor, than immediately composed herself. She feared that Nessa would come into the room and scold her.

"Let's get you cleaned up, Margareta," she said as she helped Margareta to her feet and lead her to the washroom. Margareta was able to say some last words to Melanie before Glinda led her out of the room.

"You thought your life was miserable at school. Just wait until Monday," she said quietly enough that Glinda wouldn't hear her, but loud enough for Melanie to hear her.

Melanie stood there, as still as a tree. As soon as Margareta left, the girls began to play with the make up again. Melanie sank down and started to cry. Luciana came over to her and gave her a hug.

"That's it," Melanie said through her tears.

"What is?" asked Luciana.

"It's too much."

"What are you talking about?"

"I surrender."

"Surrender what?"

Melanie knew what she was going to do that night, and nothing or no one would stop her.


	16. Melanie WHAT?

"Alright, girls, time for bed," announced Nessa as she came into the room.

All of the girls were asleep, including Glinda. Nessa gingerly walked over to Glinda and woke her up. Glinda's eyes opened slowly.

"What time is it?" Glinda asked.

"It's time for you and the girls to go to sleep," Nessa replied, smiling.

Even thought it got on Glinda's nerves sometimes, she was glad of Nessa's motherly instincts. She helped Nessa carry the girls into their sleeping bags and closed the door. Glinda and Nessa walked into their rooms and went to sleep.

Luciana woke up a few minutes later and remembered what Melanie had said. Her eyes widened. She quickly muttered a light spell and searched for Melanie. She finally found Melanie, wearing a black cloak and carrying a broom. Her long, black hair was in a bun and she was wearing her witch hat.

"Melanie?" Luciana called out to her. Melanie turned around. She put her finger to her lips to tell Luciana to be quiet. Luciana ran to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luciana asked.

"I'm running away," Melanie answered coldly.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Luciana asked. "Why?" she said more calmly.

"I can't take it anymore. You can't tell anyone."

"What am I supposed to say when your mother wakes up tomorrow and finds her daughter missing?" Luciana asked.

"I don't know. Think of something," Melanie pulled her friends in for a hug.

"I can't lie to your parents!" Luciana protested.

"Good-bye." Melanie opened the window and took off on the broom. Luciana watched her until she was out of sight. Luciana walked back to her sleeping bag. She was very worried for Melanie. _Please, be careful Melanie,_ she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, everyone was at the table, eating breakfast. Elphaba and Fiyero walked in.

"Has anyone seen Melanie?" Elphaba asked.

All of the girls looked at them and shook their heads 'no'. Luciana looked down at her plate, avoiding Elphaba's eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Elphaba.

"Luciana, do you know where Melanie is?" the Princess of the Vinkus asked.

Luciana shifted in her seat. Elphaba was looking at her, waiting for an answer. Luciana took a deep breath and got out of her seat. She walked to the couple and motioned for them to follow her out of the room. Elphaba and Fiyero followed her out of the room and closed the door behind them.

"I think that you should sit down for this," Luciana advised.

The couple sat down and Luciana began to play with her fingers. She felt very lightheaded. Finally, she spoke up.

"Melanie ran away," she said softly.

"Melanie what?" asked Elphaba, straightening.

"Melanie...ran…away," Luciana said. She couldn't believe it herself.

Tears began to fill Elphaba's eyes. Slowly, they began to fall. Fiyero began to comfort his wife and he started to cry, also. Then, Elphaba's silent tears became sobs. Luciana didn't know what to do.

"Miss Glinda, Miss Nessa, can you please come down here?" Melanie called up the stairs. Nessa and Glinda ran down the stairs.

"We heard crying. It everything all right?" asked Glinda.

Elphaba was so busy sobbing to answer her best friend's question. Fiyero nodded at Luciana, telling her it was okay to tell them the story.

"Melanie ran away last night, while we all were sleeping," Luciana explained. Nessa's eyes widened and Glinda had a panicked look on her face. They walked over to Elphaba and began to hug her.

"Why would she do that?" asked Nessa, looking at Luciana.

"I don't know. She said that she couldn't take it anymore, whatever 'it' is. She told me not to tell anyone. She was wearing a black cloak and a hat," Luciana explained, trying not to break down.

"Which direction was she headed in?" asked Glinda.

"She was heading south. I don't think that she knew where she was going, or what she was going to do once she got there," Luciana answered.

"SOUTH!?" Glinda was really panicking now.

"What's wrong?" asked Elphaba, who had stopped sobbing and was back to silent tears.

"I was going to tell you and Fiyero this yesterday. During the sleepover, one of the monkeys went into the living room, where Melanie was. I don't know what he told her, but when I came in, he pulled me outside and told me that Morrible..." she was very careful about her next words, "escaped from prison." She bit her bottom lip.

Elphaba looked like she was going to faint. She rested her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes.

"So, let me just get this straight. Melanie ran away and the most evil person in Oz has escaped from prison?" Elphaba asked as she opened her eyes and looked at Luciana. Luciana slowly nodded.

"That's it!" announced Elphaba as she stood up. "I'm going to find her." Everyone looked shocked.

"Elphie, I don't think that you should venture out with Morrible on the loose. We can send the guards," Glinda said as she tried to convince Elphaba that this was a very, very bad idea.

"She's my daughter, Glin. I need to make sure that she is safe," Elphaba said as she hurried up the stairs.

"May I please come with you?" Luciana asked, following Elphaba up the stairs.

"It's to dangerous. You're parents would not appreciate it if you got hurt," Elphaba said as she turned around and placed her hand on Luciana's shoulder.

"Please?" Luciana whispered. She didn't want to whine with Elphaba, put she really wanted to go and help her find Melanie.

Elphaba's expression softened. "Alright," she said calmly. "You may come with me."

Luciana smiled. Fiyero walked up to them. "And I'm coming to."

"Yero…" Elphaba started.

"What? You two girls will need some muscle traveling with you." Fiyero flexed his muscles. Luciana started to giggle and Elphaba rolled her eyes.

"Fine! We could use your non-existent muscle," joked Elphaba, which caused Luciana to break into full-blown laughter.

"Glinda and Nessa, can you two please contact the girls parents and tell them that the sleepover is going to end early?" asked Elphaba as she climbed up the stairs, followed by Luciana and Fiyero.

"Sure! And we will stay here in case Melanie returns," Nessa offered.

"Thank you!" said Fiyero as he followed the girls up the stairs.

In the bedroom, Elphaba was brushing her hair. She pulled it back into a bun and put on her witch hat. She put on her cloak and grabbed her broom. Luciana came into the room and stared at Elphaba. Elphaba turned around and gave Luciana a small smile. _That's exactly how Melanie looked when she left,_ thought Luciana. She didn't say it because she was afraid of making Elphaba cry again. Fiyero appeared in the doorway and offered both of his arms to the girls. Elphaba quickly grabbed two extra brooms from her broom closet and gave one to Luciana and one to Fiyero. Luciana's eyes lit up when she saw the broom. Elphaba was still teaching the girls how to fly on one. Luciana was a natural flyer.

Elphaba and Luciana both took his arms and they walked out the door, determined to find Melanie and bring her home.


	17. Not So Evil

"Elphie, will you please slow down?" called Fiyero.

Elphaba and Luciana were flying way to fast for Fiyero to keep up. They stopped their brooms and waited for Fiyero to catch up.

"Would you like to ride with me?" Elphaba offered.

"No, if you guys can do it, so can I," answered Fiyero.

Fiyero learned forward and his broom jolted forward. He went screaming forward.

Luciana gave Elphaba a confused look.

"It's a guy thing," Elphaba answered with a smile. Luciana laughed and followed Elphaba in chasing Fiyero.

* * *

Melanie had been flying forever. She was getting tired. She had inherited her mother's talent for flying. She was very tired and decided to land and walk around and stretch her legs. She was flying over a castle when she heard a voice from below say, "It's the Witch!"

_Witch?_ she thought. She thought that it would not be a good idea to land. She was about to when she saw a net flying toward her. She tried to fly away, but the net got her. She was caught in the net. The more she tried to get out, the more tangled in it she became.

Melanie landed on the ground. She was very confused. The guards ran to her and looked like they were going to poke her with their spears. She covered her face with her hands, scared to death.

A woman came out, dressed in elaborate robes that dragged on the ground when she walked. She walked up to Melanie.

"Elphaba?"

Melanie still didn't look at her.

"I'm not going to harm you. I just want to talk to you."

Melanie lifted her hands. Morrible was shocked. This wasn't Elphaba. This was a child, with white skin.

"Who are you?" asked Morrible.

"Melanie. Who are you?"

"I am Madame Morrible. I'm so sorry for the mix up. Please come inside and rest."  
The guards helped Melanie out of the net and to her feet. Melanie looked up at the woman before her. She was an older woman, wore a lot of make up, and her clothes were very out of style. Melanie was scared of her at first, but she didn't have any other choice than to go with her. She was too tired to continue traveling.

Madame Morrible took Melanie inside and offered her some tea. Melanie sat stiffly on the couch.

"Why were you looking for the Witch, or Elphaba?" Melanie asked. She didn't want to tell Morrible that Elphaba is her mother without knowing if she wanted to harm her or not.

"I am Elphaba's old headmistress from Shiz University. I was the reason she met the Wizard and…" she paused before continuing, "the reason she became wicked."

Melanie thought for a moment. Sure, her mother was strict and overprotective at times, but she wasn't wicked.

"I came from a family who had nothing," Morrible continued. "And once I had something, I just wanted more and more. I would do anything to gain power, even if it meant at the expense of others. I know that Elphaba isn't going to come and talk to me at her own free will…"

"Why not?" Melanie interrupted.

"She hates me. A lot of people do. They think that I am this bad and evil person. I supposed that is how I have been acting for a few years. I just want to apologize to Elphaba and tell her that I am sorry, for everything." Morrible started to cry and Melanie felt sorry for her, despite all of the horrible things her family said about her.

"There's no way I can tell her. She won't come here to talk to me at her free will and if I kidnap her, which I have no intention of doing, she won't even look at me."

Melanie knew that she should tell her. "I know Elphaba," Melanie confessed.

Morrible looked up. "How?"

"I'm her daughter."

Morrible stood there, shocked. She didn't know what to do.

"You're Elphaba's daughter?" Morrible asked in disbelief.

Melanie nodded.

"Does you mother ever talk about me?"

"Yes, she sometimes talks about you when she is talking about her old collage days."

"What does she say about me?"

"That you took advantage of her and tried to use her to gain more power in Oz." Melanie wasn't one for lying.

"I guess I deserve that. After all, it is true," Morrible looked down, "I just want to patch things up with her.

Melanie gave Morrible a slight hug.

"You will."


	18. Reunited

"Look! Down there!" called Luciana.

"You found Melanie?" asked Elphaba.

"No, but I found a castle. Maybe Melanie is there?"

Elphaba's eyes filled with hope as she dove to the ground. Luciana and Fiyero followed her.

As soon as they landed and dismounted their brooms, Fiyero knelt on the ground and kissed it.

"Ground!" he said. "Sweet, sweet ground! I'm never leaving you again!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. She and Luciana began to walk towards the castle.

Morrible was looking out the window. When she saw Elphaba, her heart skipped a beat. Melanie appeared beside her, eating a cookie. When she saw her mother and Luciana, she got very scared. She felt all of the blood drain from her face.

"Is that your mother?" Morrible asked.

"Yes, it is. And if she finds us here, she will kill both of us," Melanie answered as she ran to look for a hiding place.

Luciana knocked on the door. "Hello? Anybody home?" she called.

"Luciana, dear. Let me try," said Elphaba as she stepped forward.

Luciana stepped back next to Fiyero and watched Elphaba. Elphaba inhaled and kicked the door open. She turned around to see Fiyero and Luciana shaking. She smiled at them and walked in.

"I wish my mom could do that!" exclaimed Luciana.

"She probably could. If her daughter ran away and presumably got kidnapped by her mother's worst enemy," Fiyero said. "Not that I'm giving you any ideas or anything. Don't run away!" he said as he followed Luciana into the castle.

"Melanie!" Elphaba called.

No answer.

"MELANIE!" Elphaba called again.

There were voices coming from upstairs. Elphaba ran up the stairs and Luciana and Fiyero followed her. They ran into the room where the voices came from. Melanie was sitting on a bed, with Morrible next to her. Elphaba ran in the room, grabbed Melanie, and pointed the end of her broom at Morrible's neck.

"You!" Elphaba hissed through her teeth.

"Elphaba, listen, it's not what it looks like," pleaded Morrible.

"This is exactly what it looks like! You kidnapped my daughter!" Elphaba yelled. "Did you do this to try and capture me? Again?!" Elphaba was going to blow.

"No! That's why I wanted to talk to you!"

"I will never talk to you!" hissed Elphaba.

Melanie could see that this reunion was going nowhere. She spoke up.

"She's telling the truth! She's really not as evil as you say she is!"

"Stay out of this, Melanie!" Elphaba said, turning to her daughter.

Melanie took a step back. Elphaba ran to her daughter. "Melanie, you can't trust her. She's evil!" Elphaba said as she pulled Melanie away from Morrible.

"She's not evil! She just wants to talk to you. She told me!" Melanie pleaded. But her pleads fell on deaf ears.

"Fiyero, get Melanie and Luciana out of here!" Elphaba shouted to Fiyero.

"Elphie, honey, I think that we should at least listen to Madame Morrible before we –"

"Yero, NOW!" shouted Elphaba. Fiyero took the girls downstairs. Elphaba and Morrible were in the room alone.

"Elphaba, I just wanted to say –"

"SILENCE! I don't want to hear any of your excuses!" Elphaba said as she stepped closer to Morrible."

"But if you just let me explain – "

"There's nothing to explain!"

"Elphaba, I know that you will probably never forgive me for what I did to you," said Morrible with a guilty look on her face.

"You got that right!" retorted Elphaba.

"But if you just let me –"

"NO! What you did was unforgiveable. I will personally see to it that you never see me or my daughter again!" Elphaba began chanting a spell, and soon, Morrible was on the floor, clutching her stomach.

"Elphaba?" she started, but was to weak to finish. Within a few seconds, Morrible was gone in a puff of green smoke.

Melanie ran back into the room, closely followed by Fiyero and Luciana. Elphaba turned around.

"What happened to Madame Morrible?" asked Melanie stepping into the room.

"I don't want you near her anymore Melanie. She's dangerous. I trusted her when I was younger, and she ended up taking advantage of me. And my powers! She can't be trusted," Elphaba said to Melanie. "We are leaving. NOW!"

Elphaba was interrupted by a scream behind her. She turned around to see Luciana over the shoulder of one of the guards. She pointed her broom at them.

"Let her go!" she shouted at the guards.

"It's her!" one of the guards said, dropping Luciana.

"Where is the mistress?" the other guard said, grabbing Elphaba. Elphaba screamed.

"Mom!" shouted Melanie, running to her, but Fiyero pulled her back.

"Fiyero, get the girls out of here!" shouted Elphaba with tears in her eyes. "Don't worry about me! I'll be fine."

Fiyero ran downstairs with the girls and waited for Elphaba. Elphaba focused her powers through her energy.

"Ow!" said one of the guards as she released Elphaba.

"What is she doing?" asked the other guard.

Elphaba was building a force field around herself. Something she learned from reading the Grimmerie. She smiled at the guards as she ran downstairs. Fiyero and the girls were waiting for her.

They ran out the door and mounted onto the brooms. Melanie rode with her mother. _I'm so sorry, Madame Morrible_, thought Melanie as they took off into the skies.

* * *

Back at the castle, Glinda and Nessa gave Melanie a big hug. Melanie's arms were limb at her side. She couldn't believe that her mother wouldn't even listen to Madame Morrible. Knowing her mother, she wasn't surprised, although she did want her to listen to Morrible's side of the story. Morrible isn't really as evil as Elphaba thinks she is.

That night, Melanie heard her parents talking in their room. She slipped out of bed and listened at the door to their room.

"What happened in there?" asked Fiyero.

"Nothing. It was nothing," responded Elphaba.

"Elphaba, she did look like she changed,"

"Fiyero, I'm not an idiot. I know that I can't trust her. I can't listen to anything she says."

"What did you do to her? One minute she's there, and the next, she's gone. Did you…?" Fiyero asked, to scared to finish his sentence.

"No, Yero, I didn't kill her. I transported her to the dungeon downstairs. We need to make sure that she doesn't escape and that Melanie doesn't go anywhere near her,"

"You should probably listen to her side of the story. It might make you feel better," suggested Fiyero.

"No!" Elphaba was not going to give in.

Fiyero sighed, "Alright, Fae. Nessa, Glinda and I will make sure that Melanie stays safe."

Melanie heard her parents kiss. "Thank you," her mother said.

Melanie tiptoed back to her room. She knew what she had to do. She had to sneak down to the dungeon and talk to Morrible.


	19. Listening

Melanie knew that it wasn't going to be easy sneaking down to the dungeon. Her family would be watching her like a hawk. She decided that she would go to see Morrible before breakfast. When Melanie didn't come down for breakfast, Elphaba began to worry. She went back upstairs and found Melanie's bed empty.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Elphaba. She ran to her room and got her broom.

* * *

Melanie was creeping down the stairs to the dungeon. One wrong step, and she would be in big trouble. She was aware that her mother had told the guards to keep Morrible under the highest security possible. They would sent her back upstairs and tell her mother that she was down there. Melanie did not want that. No matter what everyone else said about Morrible, she was going to believe her and trust her. She just hoped that she wouldn't regret it later.

When she got to the dungeon, she peeked around the corner where Morrible's cell was. There were two guards standing outside of it. Melanie exhaled and thought of a plan. She looked down and saw a rock on the ground. She picked it up and threw it down the hall. The guards looked alert and ran towards the noise. Melanie knew that she didn't have a lot of time. She ran to the cell.

"Madame Morrible?" she whispered.

Morrible turned around and a smile appeared when she saw Melanie.

"Oh, Melanie, I'm so glad to see you!" she said.

"I'm really sorry about my mother," Melanie apologized.

"There's no need to be sorry," comforted Morrible. "I guess I deserved that. I just wish that she would listen to me."

"She will. I'll try to talk to her again. Maybe she'll listen," said Melanie, her eyes wide.

Morrible smiled. She looked over Melanie's head and her smile vanished. She looked scared.

"What's wrong?" asked Melanie, oblivious to who was behind her.

"What are you doing here?" the voice behind her asked.

Melanie turned around and saw her mother standing over her, her hair in a bun, wearing her black dress, cape and witch hat.

Melanie stood up, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"I thought I made it very clear that I didn't want you to come down here," Elphaba said.

Melanie looked into her mother's eyes. They were filled with anger, betrayal and sadness. Tears were in Elphaba's eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Just listen to her, please!" Melanie begged, stepping closer to her mother.

"Come on, we are leaving, now!" commanded Elphaba. Elphaba wanted to believe that Morrible had changed, that she could talk to her, but her past had too much of an influence on her present. She grabbed Melanie's arm and led her away from the cell, but Melanie jerked away from her mother. Elphaba turned around, looking very shocked.

"Mom, please! Just listen to her. She didn't kidnap me and she's sorry for everything she ever did to you! Just hear her out." Melanie's eyes were filled with tears. Elphaba looked into her daughter's eyes.

"Melanie, will you please return upstairs?" Elphaba asked calmly.

Melanie ran back upstairs, the tears leaving her eyes. Elphaba stayed behind with Morrible. She lifted her left hand and the bars lifted.

"Come with me. And if you try any funny business, you're going right back!" said Elphaba as she motioned for Morrible to follow her.

Morrible obeyed and followed Elphaba up the stairs. Elphaba led her into the sitting room and pointed at the couch, telling Morrible to sit down. Elphaba remained standing.

"Start talking!" Elphaba wasn't in the mood to hear Morrible's story, but Melanie would keep bothering her until she did.

"First, I would like to apologize for everything. And I would like to tell you my side of the story." Elphaba didn't respond, waiting for the rest of the story to unfold before her.

"I was born from a family who had nothing. I had six other brothers and sisters that my parents had to feed. I had to drop out of school early to get a job to help feed them. Once I had power as the Headmistress of Shiz University, I just wanted more and more power. It had control over me. Then I met the Wizard, who said that he could make me his Co-ruler of Oz. I was so happy that I completely lost it. Then I met you and your sister, discovered your powers, and thought that I could use them. I let the power go to my head, and for that, I am sorry. I'm sorry for labeling you as the Wicked Witch."

Elphaba couldn't believe her ears. She was actually beginning to feel sorry for Morrible. She sat down next to her, searching her eyes for any sign that she would be lying to her. She searched and searched, but found nothing. Morrible was telling the truth, something that Elphaba thought that she wasn't capable of doing, until today. Elphaba found herself hugging her old teacher. As she was hugging and trying to comfort Morrible, Glinda, Nessa, Fiyero and Boq enter the castle from their walk. They stopped when the saw Elphaba and Morrible, in the same room together, and not trying to kill each other. Elphaba and Morrible looked up.

"Um… should…we… come back later?" asked Glinda, in shock.

"No, it's fine. Madame Morrible was just telling me her side of everything. You should hear this."

Morrible repeated her whole story to everyone and before she knew it, she was in the middle of a group hug.

"How's Melanie?" asked Nessa, looking up at her sister.

"She'll be fine," Elphaba stated. "I'll talk to her."

Elphaba went up to Melanie's room and knocked on the door. "Melanie?" she called from the other side of the door. Melanie opened the door and greeted her mother with a scowl.

"How could you?" Melanie cried. "She just wanted to talk to you and you wouldn't listen to her!"

"Melanie, I did talk to Morrible." Melanie stopped crying. "I talked to her and you were right. She wasn't lying. Now, I'm not saying that I'm not mad at you for not listening to me, but I do thank you. I feel a lot better knowing Morrible's side to the story."

Melanie looked up at her mother. She was really grateful. She could tell that it was a lot off her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," said Melanie as she gave her mother a hug.

Elphaba returned the hug. "It's okay," she said as she stroked her daughter's hair.

Melanie and Elphaba walked downstairs together. When they got downstairs, Morrible game Melanie a smile. It worked, she mouthed.

"It's such a nice day, why don't we all go outside into the flower field?" asked Nessa as she and Glinda headed for the door.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the field. Everyone was talking with Morrible. Melanie was happy that she was understood and that she was being accepted.


	20. Graduation and Surprises

Today was the big day. Melanie and Luciana were graduating from Vinkus Academy. Melanie's whole family was there; her mother, father, Aunt Nessa and Glinda, and her father's parents. Even Madame Morrible was there. She was released from jail and accepted back into society. Luciana's parents were there, also, tears filling their eyes.

"Melanie Tigelaar!" Madame Adornus called from the podium. Everyone cheered loudly as Melanie stepped onto the stage and accepted her certificate. She was wearing a big grin as she stepped down and back to her seat. Luciana was called next. Melanie was so happy.

During the reception, Melanie and Luciana got a plate full of chocolate treats. Elphaba and Fiyero came over to their daughter and her best friend.

"We are so proud of both of you!" said Elphaba as she appeared behind the girls.

"Yes," Fiyero agreed. "You girls earned it."

Melanie and Luciana smiled. "Thank you!" chirped Luciana. Melanie and Luciana hugged and Elphaba and Fiyero walked away to talk to the other parents.

Melanie took a small box out of her pocket and handed it to Luciana.

"This is for you," she said as she gave her the box.

"Melanie, you got me something?" asked Luciana as she took the small box from Melanie.

"I wouldn't have made it through the year without you. You are my best friend!" Melanie smiled as Luciana opened the box. Inside, there was a pink charm bracelet with the letter 'L' on it. Luciana gasped. It was the most beautiful bracelet that she had ever seen. She smiled at Melanie as she helped her put it on.

"I have a gift for you, too," Luciana said as she pulled out a small box from her pocket. Melanie laughed as she took out the purple charm bracelet that had the letter 'M' on it. Luciana and Melanie giggled as the showed off their new bracelets to their parents. Elphaba was beaming.

"I've never seen your mother beam before," comments Luciana.

"Neither have I," laughs Melanie.

Then, a boy came over to the two girls. He bowed to Melanie.

"Um…hi! Would you… like to dance?" he asked, blushing.

Melanie looked at the boy. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked Melanie's age and he was very cute.

Melanie smiled. "I would love to dance!" she said as she took his hand.

The boy led Melanie to the dance floor just as a slow dance was playing. They began to slowly dance across the floor.

"I never got your name," Melanie said as the boy spun her around.

"Probably because I didn't give it to you," the boy answered.

Melanie laughed. "My named Dijon," the boy finally said.

"Melanie," Melanie said as he dipped her.

Melanie was totally unaware that her parents were watching her. Elphaba was smiling and swaying to the music, while Fiyero's eyes were closely watching the boy, making sure he didn't try anything funny.

That's when it happened. As the music was ending, Dijon and Melanie got closer together. Their lips were soon locked in a kiss. Elphaba beamed again and Fiyero was about to stomp onto the dance floor and pull them apart. He was about to, when Elphaba stopped him. She rolled her eyes at him and pulled him in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Dijon asked me to marry him!" Melanie, now age 24, said as she showed her parents the engagement ring. At first, Elphaba and Fiyero were shocked. Then Elphaba jumped up and hugged her daughter.

"Melanie, that's wonderful!" Elphaba said as she studied the ring.

Glinda and Nessa also jumped up. They engulfed Elphaba and Melanie in a big group hug.

Fiyero finally stood up. "If this marriage train is going to leave, I might as well get on board,"

Elphaba playfully slapped his arm. "Yero, you should at least pretend to be happy for her."  
"I am happy for her!" Fiyero protested as he hugged his daughter.

* * *

A year and two months later, Melanie was sitting on her bed. She had been sick everyday for the past two weeks. Elphaba came into the room with some food.

"No thank you, Mother. I can't keep anything down."

Elphaba nodded. "Are you feeling sick? Other than in your stomach?"

Melanie shook her head. "Mom, I think I might be pregnant."

Elphaba laughed. "I know!"

"You do?" Melanie was now sitting up straight in her bed.

"Yes. I had the exact same symptoms when I was pregnant with you. It's normal." Elphaba said.

Melanie took a deep breath. Elphaba handed her some tea. "Drink this. It will make you feel better."

Melanie drank the tea and instantly felt better.

* * *

Nine months went by so quickly. Dijon was in the bedroom, rubbing Melanie's swollen feet. All of a sudden, Melanie felt something wet dripping down her legs. That was follow by a sharp pain.

"AH!" Melanie screamed, loud enough for all of Oz to hear her.

"Mel, what's wrong?" asked Dijon. He noticed the wet bed. His mouth flew open.

"Mom! Dad! Melanie's in labor! NOW!" Elphaba and Fiyero ran into the room. Melanie's breathing was rough and uneven. She looked at her parents. Tears were in here eyes.

Elphaba ran over to her daughter and rubbed her arm. Fiyero began to pace around the room.

"Oh my Oz! Oh my Oz! Oh my Oz!" her muttered under his breath. "What are we going to do? Can I get anything?"

Elphaba seemed very annoyed. "Fiyero, do you know what you can get?"

"What?" he asked.

"Out!" said Elphaba. "You're not helping!"

"Sorry, I'll behave."

It took a lot of breathing and a lot of pushing, but a few hours later, a small cry filled the room. Melanie sank back into the pillows. She was exhausted. Elphaba cleaned her new grandchild and handed the baby to Melanie.

"Say hello to your new daughter!" Elphaba said as she introduced the couple to their new baby girl.

"She so pretty!" admired Dijon. Melanie smiled. "What do you want to name her?"

"Harmony. I've always liked that name," Melanie said as she took her daughter in her arms. "You can choose her middle name."

"What about Joy? That's a nice middle name."

"Harmony Joy it is!" Melanie excitedly said as she kissed her newborn's head.

"I know one thing!" Elphaba said, smiling as Fiyero wrapped his arms around her. "We will have to go through this all over again!"

The End


End file.
